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Healing the economy with love? What was Trudeau talking about?

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ont., on Saturday, August 1, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Healing the economy with love? What was Trudeau talking about?

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For the federal Conservatives, Election 2015 was supposed to be about just two issues: security and the economy. Security remains on the front burner, thanks to fresh reports of ISIS atrocities. (The latest horror is this week’s New York Times story about the group’s systematic use of rape and sexual enslavement as a weapon.) Despite the overreach of the Conservative government’s domestic anti-terror legislation, such reports remind Canadians why our country needs to actively combat this menace, at home and overseas.

The economy is proving to be a far trickier issue for the Tories. After nine years of Conservative government, Canada is once again treading on recessionary ground. While the Tories can’t be blamed for falling oil prices, Canadians aren’t convinced they have the answers when it comes to getting the economy back on track.

A Forum Research poll taken after last week’s leaders’ debate asked which of the three main party leaders would handle the economy best. It puts Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair in a statistical tie, at 30 and 29 per cent respectively, with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau bringing up the rear with 26 per cent.

That’s a remarkable result, to say the least. That level of economic confidence in the NDP is without precedent in Canadian politics. This is the party that argued that free trade would turn us into the 51st state, that for decades wanted to nationalize Canadian banks. The NDP remains the only party that would raise corporate taxes and impose a federal minimum wage of $15, burdening businesses in a time of economic difficulty.

open quote 761b1bIt’s one thing to spout mom-and-apple-pie platitudes — we expect that from politicians. But Trudeau’s statement was utter gibberish. And there’s no excuse for it: it’s not even week three of the campaign.

The Liberals, by contrast, can boast of a record of trade deals, balanced budgets and lower taxes under the previous administration of Jean Chretien. Even if Pierre Trudeau’s record in office was one of bloated government and sky-high national debt, Chretien’s government helped wash away the taint of those years, allowing the Liberals to assert that, given the chance, they can be competent economic managers.

That was before the younger Trudeau took over, of course. True, the party does have an Obama-esque plan that appeals to some voters — to increase infrastructure investment and raise taxes on the top 1 per cent of earners “so the middle class can pay less tax”. But when he talks economics, Justin Trudeau keeps tripping over himself. His statements asserting “the budget will balance itself” and expressing admiration for the Chinese dictatorship’s ability to “turn its economy around on a dime” already had a lot of people questioning his grasp of basic economics.

This week, he made it worse:

“We’re proposing a strong and real plan, one that invests in the middle class, so we can grow the economy, not from the top down, the way Mr. Harper wants to, but from the heart outwards. That’s what Canada has always done well.”

Well, that sounds perfectly … sorry, what? Grow the economy “from the heart outwards”? What does that even mean? And when exactly did Canada do that — whatever that is?

It’s one thing to spout mom-and-apple-pie platitudes; we expect that from politicians. But Trudeau’s statement was utter gibberish. And there’s no excuse for it: it’s not even week three of the campaign — Trudeau can’t claim to be over-tired — and the remark was totally gratuitous, not the result of a journalistic trap of any kind.

It was a dumb, meaningless thing to say — and when it comes to the economy, Canadians don’t want dumb. They want smart … or at least the appearance of smart. One might disagree with Mulcair’s plan for higher corporate taxes, or Harper’s panoply of boutique tax credits, but at least they each stand for something recognizable, for positions that can be rationally debated.

Trudeau needs to sharpen not only his language, but his underlying grasp of economic issues. He needs to do this not only to convince Canadians that his positions have merit, but as essential preparation for politics’ top job — assuming he still hopes to win it.

Tasha Kheiriddin is a political writer and broadcaster who frequently comments in both English and French. After practising law and a stint in the government of Mike Harris, Tasha became the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and co-wrote the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. Tasha moved back to Montreal in 2006 and served as vice-president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and later director for Quebec of the Fraser Institute, while also lecturing on conservative politics at McGill University. Tasha now lives in Whitby, Ontario with her daughter Zara, born in 2009.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

 

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